Finding the Family Jewels - Bibles, Included!

Ever wonder what happened to an object that was once held in high regard in your family but has since disappeared?  Maybe you aren't sure if there ever was such an item but you'd like to explore the possibility.  This blog is for you...

When I began internet genealogy back in the 1990's we still had dial up service.  Remember that?  Going through your home phone line to connect resulted in no one being able to get a phone call while someone was surfing.  With all the junk calls I get daily, I'm thinking that wasn't such a bad option, but I digress.

Back then, my husband would joke that it was okay he couldn't make a phone call because I was hunting down the family jewels.  Clearly, our families never had much jewels but I did wonder whatever became of the muskets or hoop skirts or Bibles.  Most likely, the muskets broke and when the hoop skirts were no longer haute couture they were either repurposed or trashed.  The Bibles, however, never went out of style so what happened to them?

Your first step in locating the long lost item is to research if it ever was.  Start by asking your oldest living relative.  I know that no Bible was brought from the old country by my maternal side because I asked my grandparents, who were the gateways, if they brought it with them.  Both said they brought one suitcase filled with clothes.  Case closed, pun intended!

I never asked my paternal grandparents that question, though, because my grandmother died when I was a child and my grandfather remarried, moved away and we never had contact again.  My father then became the oldest relative and his reply was, "You'll get the book when I die."  Huh?  I questioned further and he meant there was a family history book that had been written in the 1970's and he intended for me to have it.  Except that didn't happen. Since my step-mother would not give it to me, my second step became casting a wider net.  I had two aunts but neither responded to a letter I wrote (this was before wide use of email) so I posted on a genealogy website that I was looking for a copy.  Two people responded that they had copies and provided me a look up.  One even reached out to the author who was living in Europe and he sent me an electronic database of his book.  Today, you can easily accomplish this by messaging distant family members who have online trees that contain the ancestor whose information you're seeking or you can check worldcat, Google Books, Hathi Trust, Internet Archives and Archive Grid to see if the whereabouts of what you're hunting is listed there.  Facebooks' Family Treasures Found would be another site to check.  One of my aunts eventually responded and sent me her copy.  Patience is key here for lots of reasons; perhaps the site you messaged isn't used much by the recipient or life just happened to get in the way.  In my case, my Aunt wanted to check with her two daughters to make sure they had no interest in the book.  They didn't so that's how I ended up with a copy.  Actually, I ended up with two copies because my step-mother took pity on me after my mother died and gave me the book.  So now, I have two - one for each of my kids or for another family member that may sometime in the future contact me with the same request.

Getting the information through look up was wonderful, however, if what you're seeking is a one of a kind item then this approach may get you closer but not really fill your need.  Step 3 will save you time and it's quite simple - just go online and research if what you're seeking is documented to have existed and if so, when and where was it's last location.

If you're following me, you know that I've been working all summer on my Hollingshead line.  In my research to verify the identify of Daniel Hollingshead in three locations (England, Barbados, New Jersey Colony) I looked everywhere online and emailed numerous archives to check for information that hasn't been digitized.  It was during the online portion of the research that I discovered Daniel had brought a Bible with him from England as it was noted in old biographical books highlighting descendants in the late 1800's.  To aid in keeping the whereabouts of the Bible's locations known, I went to Step 4, I created a timeline.  For simplicity here, I'm not including the source citations but my timeline in Excel notes exactly where the information came from so I can analyze it later:

1683 Leicestershire, England - Daniel's birth as reported in 5 books (1965, 1911, 1900, 1886, 1882)

         Lancashire, England - Daniel's birth place as reported in 2 books (1870 & 1857)

1686 Leicestershire, England - Christening record for the 2nd Daniel born (1st  Daniel 1679-1685)

1688 Bible printed in Oxford, England

You can clearly see the problem with the conflicting place and dates. Further research shows no Daniels born in Lancashire during this period.  Only two Daniels were born in Leicestershire during this time, both to the same parents.  Probably every book is wrong with the birth year as there would be no reason for the family to name a 2nd child Daniel until the first one was deceased.  Yes, some families do that but this line hasn't shown that to be the case although they often reuse names when a child dies.  More likely, Daniel 2 was born between 1685 (1st Daniel's death) and 1686 (christening record).  Typically infants are baptized soon after birth but that might not have been the case.  A family member may have seen the 1683 recorded but was really written was a sloppy last digit that should have been a 5. 

Here's another problem the timeline unveils - the published date of the Bible would be AFTER Daniel's birth, no matter what year is correct.  Still, I want to locate it as it would hopefully confirm the birth location and would have been the next closest document made to Daniel's real date of birth.

Here's the next problem - The Bible mentioned in some of the books state that Daniel brought the Bible with him when he came to New Jersey. I need more info to further develop the timeline.

If you're wondering why I would need to know where the Bible was kept that long ago it's simply because if it is found, I need to understand how it was passed along.  Since I don't know if the Bible contains any genealogical information as many Bibles exist and families don't record vitals in them, I need to know where it's been so I can validate the information it contains, if any.

Ship manifests haven't been found for him so it's not known exactly when Daniel emigrated.  The books mention he, along with several brothers, were in the Battle of Blenheim.  So, did Daniel take the Bible with him in battle (August 1704)?  No clues there.  Did Daniel return to England after the battle?  Don't know! At the time of the battle Daniel was not the oldest son so the Bible would have likely been in the possession of a brother who died in battle.  If the Bible had been brought to Blenheim, Daniel would have assumed ownership of it at that time.

It's probable he did return to England after the battle and took the Bible with him when he decided he was permanently leaving England so that would have been between 1705-1711.  The last date is when his first child was born in Barbados; since he met his wife in Barbados he probably arrived between 1705-1710.  So my timeline continues:  

1705  Battle of Blenheim (now Germany)

1711  Daughter born in Barbados

1714  Wife dies in Barbados

1715  Daniel listed in Barbados census

1716  Daniel remarries in Barbados

1717  Daniel purchases land in New Jersey Colony

1717-1718  Two children born to second union in Barbados

1721  Beginning of numerous land sales in New Jersey Colony

1730  Daniel dies intestate in Somerset, New Jersey Colony

Step 5:  To determine where the Bible went after Daniel's death is to expand the tree to include all of Daniel's children from both of his marriages.  You also must keep in mind customs from the time period. Understanding how the family thinks is key to finding the current location of the item.

My line follows Daniel's first child, Mary.  She would not have inherited the Bible for several reasons - she was from the first union and she was a female. Clearly she was not a favored child by her step mother as she was not named in the will.  Daniel had older sisters in England so if the family was unconventional for the times, an older sister and not Daniel would have kept the Bible after the oldest sibling died.  I know that Mary did not have the Bible as there was no documentation found in her line to ever note she had it.  There is no documentation that any of the female children ever had it. 

Daniel's eldest son, the second child, would seem the person to have inherited it but that does not seem to be the case.  Numerous books and documents show that Francis did, as the oldest male, manage the assets after Daniel died intestate and quickly lost them.  From the will of Thomasin, Daniel's second wife, she acknowledges his ineptitude by naming one of her youngest daughter's as administrator to her estate and gives each of her adult children only a shilling.  Her manumitted slaves receive most of the proceeds from the remaining estate.  You may think that the administrator would have received the Bible, since she was given the responsible task of handling the final paperwork, however, she had married late in life and had no children so she did not get the Bible.

Two of Daniel's male sons had died before his second wife.  They had no children so we can eliminate them from the hunt.

That leaves one line - 6th child, 3rd son William.  Oh joy, William had 9 children.  This may seem overwhelming but following what we know - most likely to be passed to a MALE with CHILDREN, we can quickly eliminate who got it.  It appears that son James inherited it as books from 1882 & 1886 state his son, Stroud Jacob's wife, had the Bible in her possession after Stroud died, along with "old family papers."  So now I want to find both the Bible and the papers.  

First, I want to understand why Stroud had the Bible.  He was the third son and fourth child.  The eldest died with no children, we can skip the female (sigh) and the next son left to go out west and never married.  Makes sense why Stroud would have it.   

Fast forward to 1900 when the Bible was known to be in the possession of one of Stroud's grandchildren, a Jeannette Jackson.  WOW!  How did a female get so lucky?  Times were a changing and it seems everyone of the now fewer children got something.  Harriet, the oldest, had died but her oldest daughter was Jeannette who got the Bible.  Stroud's second child had died childless.  The third child, James' son received a breast pin that was passed down to Edgar Pinchot Hollingshead.  The eldest, a daughter, received a painting on ivory of one of Daniel's sons, William (same line).

Now this should be easy, right?!  1900 wasn't that long ago and so we just need to track Jeannette and we've found the Bible.  Not so fast...Jeannette died unmarried and childless in 1923.  Two brothers predeceased her.  Her sister married but had no children.  Now we're at a dead end.  Not!

STEP 6 is to research further in new areas.  Since we're looking for a record from less than the last 100 years newspapers are the way to go.  Thanks to a "cousin" helping me with the search, a record was found in a Pennsylvania paper (and the Bible came to New Jersey first, remember!) that said an Elizabeth Malvern Hollingshead was going to "loan" the Bible to a local historical society in 1924 for an event that was to be held.  Loan is the key word here but still, I reached out to the historical society to see if a) they still have it on loan or b) they reborrowed it sometime since and know where it is.  Alas, they do not but they do have the "old family papers."  Bingo!  I've at least traced part of the missing items.  I'm awaiting their lookup for confirmation of vitals.

Now it's time to go back to Step 5 and trace Elizabeth's line to the present.  That was done and the most likely candidate was emailed at his work email.  He hasn't responded.  I know he's reading his work email because it was an interesting system - it notified me that he had been on the site the previous day to my email. 

Finding a long lost heirloom is a matter of patience and persistence.  Keep notes, enlist others to lighten the load and you will hopefully find what you seek.  Happy Hunting!

Spam and Genealogy

As genealogists, we are used to spending our days looking at old documents, reading up on events that happened long ago and trying to put our "head" into the times that were so we can better understand when we analyze our findings.
We don't dwell much on the fact that every day we are all making our own history.
I haven't read anywhere a recent personal finding I discovered so I'm putting it out here now...
As a blogger I get A LOT of spam,  I'm not talking the pork based product - I don't do sales pitches! I'm referring to the internet type.  You don't see it because of the filters I constantly update to insure that the junk doesn't get through to impact your experience or worse, infect your device.  In a typical pre-pandemic week, I got over a thousand spam hits easily, often closer to two thousand on each of my sites (my website and Blogger).  Since the pandemic, the amount has fluctuated over the months.  
When various countries reopened the spam increased; as they shut down again it decreased.  The majority in the past was from China and Eastern Europe. How do I know that?  Because it wasn't in English.  I suppose someone who speaks English could have been using Google Translate to fake a hit but I'm not sure how likely that would have been.
Since May, my spam has been two-thirds in English based on my unscientific analysis.  I'm basing the one third on the incorrect English word choices that are being used.  (Hint to Russia and China Spammers:  We really don't say 'that cool' much anymore).
In the past, the spam consisted about half regarding dating, a quarter for obtaining cheap medicines and a quarter claiming my blog was the best ever and directing readers to a link for purchase of a product that had nothing to do with genealogy.  Interestingly, the medical links are now scant.  The dating has turned hardcore and blunt.  The majority is product links.  My take is spammers are focusing on frustrated people and are trying to make a fast buck.  Just like elective medical procedures taking a back seat, so are sales of pharmaceuticals.
Last night I got a late email selling Halloween costumes.  I was flummoxed!  My first thought, was this couldn't be serious - who is thinking of Halloween when nearly each day of 2020 has been a horror and we're stuck in a perpetual Ground Hog's Day. Then I thought, maybe it's a message of hope to return to what we used to take for granted - normal times.  I don't know what the motivation was to send an email late on a Friday evening for a holiday that may or maybe not be celebrated in three months but it did give me pause. Based on my spam and email type and amount, we're a long way from "normal."
What does this have to do with genealogy?  Everything!  Our times are historical and the stresses we humans are under right now impact the choices and decisions we make.  This data analysis shows insight on the conditions of our times.  
IMHO, with the utter chaos that greets us daily, what should become a priority is responsibility and obligations to community to insure the well being of all. I'm seeing so much of that in the genealogy community and not so much in other groups in which we belong.  History will be the judge of how we, as a society, have handled the numerous crises that have befallen us in the first half of 2020.  I'm looking forward, not to Halloween or Thanksgiving or Christmas, but for a turn around of hearts so that we can move forward together for a better future.  Today, I'm going back to my tree to work on my long dead people who have faced their own tragedies and rose to the occasion. I want to follow in those footstep. Perhaps your ancestors will help guide you in dealing with these troubling times. All the best!

Hollin[g]shead Connections and Spreading the Love

I am pleased to announce that I have linked my Daniel Hollingshead to the Hollinshead family in the New Jersey Colony!  If you're a Genealogy At Heart follower, you've experienced (remotely) the twists and turns of this family saga, along with the intermarriages with the Duers, who have their own family drama.  Upfront, I want to apologize for the length of this blog, please bear with me!

I've written frequently about the odd happenings that occur when I research these lines that I can't explain.  As blog follower Linda Shufflebean commented on Synchronocity and my Roots "I love Hank Jones's Psychic Roots series - I'm even mentioned with my own weird experiences.  I think the ancestors are up there pointing the way for us at times." I so agree, Linda!  

If you're a new reader and have no idea what I'm talking about or you need a refresh, you can read some of the backstory here, here and here.

The ancestors may be giving us a nudge from beyond but it's up to us to take that tidbit and go with it. It's also about connections in the here and now.  Today, I want to give a shout out to some very special people who went above and beyond to answer my questions, give me suggestions or furnish a copy of a paper document that hasn't been digitized.  None of them had to do this, especially not during these difficult times.  

I realize my requests were not important to anyone but me and a few descendants of the Hollingsheads.  When the world is falling apart, finding a source in a locked archive is definitely a low priority.  Regardless, the following folks stepped up and helped me and I am so very grateful for their positive character, work ethic and dedication.  What I've learned from them can help every genealogist be better!

The list is in alpha order by first name as they all are equally important:

BARB WALKER TERRONES, Ancestry.com Tree Owner   Have you ever messaged someone about more info on Ancestry and never gotten a response?  Duh, every genealogist has!  Barb is not one of those people who never respond.  In fact, Barb, who has a private tree, not only quickly responded she volunteered to help me find the missing Hollingshead Bible that Daniel brought with him when he left England about 1704.  Barb would be my 7 times removed step cousin.  Regardless of being that distant, Barb stopped her own research to help me and shared what she found.  Barb, I thank you for your quick replies and I know we're going to find that Bible someday.  Please continue to keep me in the loop of what you discover as I'll do the same.

BRYAN MULCAHY, Reference Librarian Ft. Myers Regional Library   Nothing like needing to find a 300 year old will transcription that's not online and was made out of the country.  Even in normal times it's a feat.  The volume I needed was 140 miles from my home.  Back in the day, I would have requested it be sent to my local library or perhaps I would have even made the drive because I love Ft. Myers but now, those options weren't possible.  I completed the form filler request Ask a Librarian and Bryan responded within two hours with a scan of what I needed.  Bryan, you are awesome!  Your information helped me trace extended family and led me to further documents that I would no way have known existed if I hadn't uncovered the relationships that were mentioned in the will you provided.  My deepest appreciation to you!

ELIZABETH PEARSON, British Genealogist   I've attended lectures Liz has given locally a few times and have always been impressed with her wealth of knowledge.  The area and locations I was researching are not in my comfort zone so I contacted Liz for direction.  Liz gave me insight into British world view from the time period, reminded me of boundary changes, and provided me recommendations and direction.  Liz, I cannot thank you enough for your help.  Your insights helped me understand what I was discovering and your recommended methodology was what cracked the case!  Tracking Daniel's relatives was definitely the direction to go.

GAYLE MARTINSON, Reference Librarian, Wisconsin Historical Society   Nothing like needing to review a collection of family information (circa 1800) from South Carolina that was donated to a historical society in Wisconsin when I could not possibly travel from Florida to review the information.  Add that the organization was closed and that the automatic reply I received when I inquired about availability said it would be at least 12 weeks before I could get a response.  I told myself, what's 3 more months as the man I'm researching has been dead for nearly 300 years so patience, Lori, patience.  I was so pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Gayle the next day asking for more information about my request.  She placed me in the queue and was responsible for someone to go into a locked archive to look for a manuscript last cited in 1853.  Unbelievable to me, not only was this accomplished, a scan of what I needed was emailed to me at 5:11 PM a few days after my request was made.  In these difficult times, I am in awe of this librarian taking my request seriously and getting me answers to my questions so expediently.  Gayle is a tremendous asset to her organization and I hope they realize how fortunate they are to have her on staff.  Thanks, Gayle!

GUY GRANNUR, Archivist with the National Archives of Great Britain   I have zero experience with the record sets in Guy's archive.  Guy was the presenter of the online class last month called Caribbean Connections and I couldn't have been happier with his presentation that I needed.  After his conclusion, he responded to questions via the chat box and he was most helpful.  His expertise enabled me to find a connection on another site mentioned to show that a close relative of Daniel had gone to Barbados in 1690.  Who knew?!  Well, those that did know are all dead but because of that record I had my "Caribbean Connection."  Thanks, Guy, for your interesting and informative presentation.

HULYA TASCI-HART, Translator  What can I say about a multi lingual educator who is so dedicated that she'll stop what she's doing to translate from English to German for me in seconds?!  This smart workaholic took the time to clarify what I meant so that she could be as accurate as possible with the translation.  Now I know you're wondering, why would I need a German translation when I was researching England, Barbados and New Jersey.  It appears that my Daniel served in the Battle of Blenheim in August 1704, along with his unnamed brothers.  No records exist in the British Archives so I decided to see if there were any records left near Blenheim aka Blindheim, a Bavarian village where the battle was fought.  I reached out to Hulya to translate my request and she came through as always.  I so greatly appreciate Hulya, not only as a genealogist but as an educator.  

JIM LYNCH, Caribbeanavenue.com  I always seem to find what I need in a place my ancestor never lived and it has happened again!  Jim Webster had used a resource he owns, the 1715 Barbados census, to help me pinpoint where my family was living on the island.  I have been in search of that information for YEARS!  I've reached out to many and no one ever told me that the information was published in a 1980 book.  I had to have a copy!  Jim Webster linked me to Jim Lynch who responded to a form filler I completed almost instantly.  It was a Saturday and Jim mailed the book early Monday morning when the post office reopened.  It's probably stuck in customs but I'm eagerly anticipating its arrival.  If you are doing Barbados research you must have this important work.  All it takes is contacting Jim for a copy - he uses PayPal.  Jim, thanks so much for answering my questions on a weekend and being so prompt in responding to my request.  I'm impressed with your business ethics!

JIM WEBSTER of BajanThings.com   If you're researching Barbados this is a site you need to explore.  I was confused when I found a sugar planter listed in 1680 and 1615 with a similar name to what I was researching and questioned if it had been mistranscribed.  Jim responded in minutes to a contact form I filled out on the website.  Seriously, who does that?!  I'm so glad Jim does because he shared his knowledge and pointed me to where I could find a 1615 census of the island (none online!).  Jim, because of you, I discovered that my Mary was being cared for by her aunt after her mother's death and my Daniel was living separately with an 18 year old youth.  I'm still trying to determine who that might be.  Thank you so much for your dedication to Barbados history.

KAREN STOKES, South Carolina Historical Society   What to do when you need to check a reference and it's no where?!  Beating your head on the desk is not the answer.  Turning to Worldcat, I located a copy of Richard Yeardon's History of the Circular Church in South Carolina.  Why would I need that when my Daniel was never in South Carolina?  Yeardon was a source for a bio on Daniel's grandson, William, who was a Presbyterian minister in South Carolina after the Revolution, according to a William B. Sprague (1857).  Sprague cited Yeardon so I needed to find where Yeardon got his info.  A day after my request, Karen responded that she had looked through the book and no reference was given.  In fact, there was no information about the family at all in the book. Karen, I greatly appreciate your checking the source and recommending that I look at another work by a different author, David Ramsay, who Yeardon extensively quoted.  You were unaware that I had already reached out to another archive to check Ramsay's notes.  This speaks volumes about your knowledge of research process as you would have no way known what the other obscure sources were pointing toward.  Kudos to you!

PAUL DAVIS, Collections and Research Assistant, Historical Society of Princeton   I was looking for a reference made to confirm my Daniel was a pioneer in Princeton, New Jersey.  Everything I had found at that point was for other areas.  Although Paul couldn't enter the locked society, he made great suggestions and provided links for me to check out.  Thanks, Paul, I appreciate the direction you provided; you were very helpful.

TOM DREYER, NEHGS genealogist   In Boston, during a pandemic, Tom found a book on a shelf in a closed archive and provided me the information I was seeking.  Seriously, I am overwhelmed by this man's dedication to a fellow genealogist. We discovered that I'm distantly related to his wife who is from the New York Duer family while I'm from the New Jersey Duer line.  I love the reminder that we are all connected - we're all family.  Tom, next month when I get my first paycheck, I'm making a donation to your organization of which I am a member in your name.  The document you supplied was vital as it was the missing link to connecting a newer and older source.  Thank you!

TODD THULL, Ancestry.com Tree Owner  Like Barb, Todd responded to a message I sent him about a document he had posted about his Hollinshead line.  I was trying to locate a copy that I couldn't find online.  Todd responded quickly and lo and behold! it was online although the copy was incomplete.  As could only happen with this family, the paragraph I needed was the last paragraph showing on the scanned book.  I don't even know how that's possible!  Thanks, Todd, for helping me link my line to yours.  I will be sending you a copy of my paper so you can see how the Quaker Hollinsheads are related to the Church of England Hollingsheads.  I couldn't have made the connection without your wonderfully sourced online tree.

VICKIE URBAN, Ancestry.com Tree Owner   I have consulted with Vickie over the years as we are Duer cousins and I greatly appreciate that she ALWAYS uses sources on her tree.  She shares her findings and always responds  to messages.  Thanks, Cuz, you are most appreciated!

Last but not least, my wonderful family who puts up with my obsession.  None of them have been bitten by the genealogy bug, yet they put up with me and in their own way, try to relate to my interest.  My husband, bless him, even attempted to do some online research for me and help me decipher handwriting from the 1600s as I was transcribing.  My son suggested I watch an episode of the Sarah Connor Chronicles that might help me with a research path.  My daughter who listened attentively while I drone on about my findings.  Both my kids risk their lives daily trying to put an end to this awful disease and make the world a better place.  For them to care about my finding a christening record from 1686 is touching to me.  Thanks guys, all my love!

Yep, it's all about love and connections.  In these crazy times I think it's more important than ever to share some love so this week, thank someone who helped you with your research.  They deserve the recognition and appreciation.  Stay safe and happy hunting!

What The World Needs Now

Genealogy, Freedom and Acceptance - Black Lives Do Matter

It's Independence Day here in the U.S. and this one will be like none I've previously spent.  Got a 3 part text from the Surgeon General of our state notifying us to "Avoid the 3 Cs Closed Spaces, Crowded Places & Close-Contact Settings."  Kind of catchy!  Later that day, the bureaucrats came out stating the typical spin that this will poof be gone so no worries.  The disconnect would be funny if it wasn't so sad for the millions who are suffering because of the disease or its side effects, such as unemployment, eviction, food shortage, and so on.  

We plan on staying home and hubby has ventured out to the grocery store WITH HIS MASK to get our traditional picnic dinner that we usually have with family in the park right before the fireworks display.  This year, we're eating it for lunch in our backyard on a quilt our daughter made to commemorate the times.  We'll use the quilt every year from now on and perhaps next year will be different, perhaps not.  Like the immortal lyrics sung by Janis Joplin, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." My family and I realize how privileged we are and this temporary loss of our freedoms to go where we want with no restrictions is a small price to pay to insure our community stays safe.  Others aren't so fortunate now or in the past.

The past week I have been heavily into researching my Daniel Hollin[g]shead to prove or disprove he was the only Daniel from Leicestershire, England that went to Barbados and became a real estate mogul in the Eastern New Jersey colonies.  I'm at the point I can say I have strong evidence but I want to make sure I haven't made an error somewhere so I await a few more documents to examine.  Those records - the Bible he brought with him from England, a manuscript donated by family of a Presbyterian minister in South Carolina to an archive in Wisconsin, and a list of military men who died in the Battle of Blenheim in August 1704 would add further support or not.  The "or not" is key to the previous sentence and it's what I love most about genealogy.  We think we know, we think we've found everything, we think we understand until a new document is discovered that throws us for a loop.  

In the past three weeks I've been on an emotional roller coaster ride with my findings.  I've had to face the facts and process that my gateway ancestor wasn't the pious Quaker that I always thought of him.  Family legend stated that he was indentured to Barbados, possibly as a tailor, since he was the oldest son and his father, a tax collector, had died.  There was the issue that some of the money collected didn't get turned in to the King's treasury.  

I guess my interpretation of that information says a lot about my personality.  I was fine with the religion - I'm pretty much a nonconformist myself.  His "career" choice was okay, too. I love to sew and once had my own costume business so maybe that was how my skill came about. The missing tax money I attributed to an error or the sudden death of Daniel's father but it all got resolved at the end so life was good.  

I never realized that I tend to make excuses for my ancestors actions and try to rationalize their behavior turning it into a positive explanation.  Until now.

In early June, I took every document I had on Daniel and his purported father, Francis and reviewed them.  I then asked a member of my local genealogy society who is a Brit and experienced with the time period I was working with to examine them for her suggestions.  She pointed out that the son of  a tax collector at the time would not have been indentured as a tailor so that story, with no documents, was probably untrue.  Britain had a rigid class system I hadn't considered.  There was a Daniel who was a tailor in London but he was of an older generation than the Leicestershire Daniel.  There was also an indenture record for a different Hollingshead line but it was also for a much later time period than Leicestershire Daniel.  Perhaps, she suggested, that the family story got muddled over the past 300 years.  Heck, if we can't even have our government officials in the same day have the same story, a 300 year time span certainly would have some errors. She suggested I search for more records and then reanalyze the findings.  Great advice!

Now I've looked for documents on this family for years and years and I can't explain why I happened to find so much in just 3 weeks.  What I discovered is disturbing to me and altered my perspective of Daniel's life and my own.  I still am working through it.

I discovered some conflicting evidence based on bios in old books.  One source stated he was born in Lancashire; the others all stated Leicestershire.  That was the first of my sick to my stomach feelings - I had put out the wrong info and so many other's trees blindly accepted it as fact.  If that turned out to be correct, I didn't even know how I could fix the problem.  I took a break, cleared my head and then began to research Hollin[g]sheads in Lancashire and found two families in two different parishes but he wasn't there.  I examined the citations for the Lancashire book and hunted down the first source, another old book.  That book provided a different source so I searched for it and surprise, the initial source DID NOT HAVE LANCASHIRE - it didn't name a location.  I'm still waiting to see what the second source states - that's possibly the documents in Wisconsin.  I'm seeking a manuscript written before 1800 in Charleston, South Carolina.  Daniel never even visited South Carolina (or Wisconsin) so my theory of looking where they never lived seems to be supported again.  I also wanted to find the Bible to see what was recorded there.  Until I found the old bios from the 1800's I didn't know it even existed.  The last record of it was October 1882 in Chicago. I'm grateful to a genealogist from the New England Genealogical and Historical Society who provided a look up for me this week.  That immensely helped me move forward with finding the Bible.

The person who owned the Bible never married and had no children.  She predeceased her two brothers.  A sister, ironically, moved to a few miles from where I currently live with her husband and died there in 1939.  She had no children.  I suspect the Bible was given to a cousin from a different line who had received some other family memorabilia.  He was living in Manhattan at the time the Bible owner was and he had three children.  My theory is it was passed down to one of his children.  So I spent a day trying to locate the living of those lines.  I emailed 4 individuals and received a response from one.  Doesn't say if she has it or not but that, to her knowledge, the Bible never contained genealogical information.  I laughed, that would be my family!  They never notate on photos, keep records, etc.  I'm not giving up hope that the current owner comes forward to verify that.

I also was trying to think of reasons why Daniel would leave Leicestershire.  Several old books mention he, as did several of his brothers, served in the Battle of Blenheim which was in August 1704.  My Brit friend stated that the brother who had died there as a Captain under the Duke of Marlborough (who Winston Churchill is descended from) would have been in the class of a tax collector so that further supports I have the correct Daniel.  She suggested finding proof of their military experience.  The National Archives of Great Britain doesn't have it.  I've reached out to a few military societies in England hoping someone somewhere has the info.  

I then theorized Daniel went to Barbados because he was in the military and I began to read up on the history of that island.  The history is not pretty!  I knew there sugar plantations; his second wife, Thomasine Hasel's father was an owner of one.  I knew there were slaves but I didn't think much about them over the years.  I now know a lot and it is relatable to our current times.  

I was astounded to learn that Lord Cromwell placed many Scotts and Irish men into slavery.  How had I missed that?  I never knew how far back slavery went.  I do remember learning in school that the Romans had slaves but I thought they were prisoners of war.  I didn't know that Africans were taken as slaves because of their religious convictions.  I never thought about the Spanish and Portuguese using and abusing African slaves before settling the "new world."  I was astounded to read an archaeological  study that explored a former sugar plantation in Barbados and determined that economic power brokers in London had made the decision to exploit so they could become richer.  The evidence was buried in the soil, untouched for 400 years.  

I'm still coming to terms with the picture posted at the top of this blog.  Daniel died intestate in 1730 in Somerset County, New Jersey.  You can see from the inventory that he owned slaves.  I am sickened at the thought.  

My mantra has always been I identify with the underdog as I am one of them. I have been discriminated against because I was the only child in my parochial school whose parents were divorced at a time when divorce was frowned upon.  I was repeatedly called a carpetbagger because I was a northerner who had relocated to the south.  Some of my husband's family would not accept me because my grandparents were immigrants.  They made negative comments about my religion.  I had a relationship severed by a friend because she hated my religion, too.  

Those experiences and my interpretation of my ancestry made me wrongly believe I was the great grand daughter of an indentured servant of Caribbean. I thought that made me linked in kinship and someone who understood the hardships of African Americans.  Geez, I even grew up in Gary, Indiana so I certainly understood the black experience, right?  WRONG!  

Growing up, even though I was at the lower rungs of the social economic ladder did not take away my white privilege.  I never asked for it but I inherited it.  As I reflect, I could have and should have done more. Coming out about my family's involvement in slavery is not easy for me to accept but it is necessary. My blog today is my first step in this journey.

Who were "Tippeo, an old negro-man, Jack, Lelia, Jack, a boy, Bellinda and Dido?" What became of them?  Were they related?  I don't know but intend to try to find out.  

This Independence Day I am reflecting on the past and trying to make plans for the future. My people had freedom and took away others' freedom so that they could prosper.  I'm not sure how to make amends but I will work it out going forward.  I hope you will join me if you are at the same point in your life that I am.  Being embarrassed, sorry and ashamed isn't enough.  Black Lives Matter - always have and always will.  It's time for change and I will be a positive force in that.